We are overwhelmed by the departure of Vinod, our comrade, our friend and our brother in struggles and affection. Vinod was a leading figure of the alterglobalist movement, one of those founding the International Council. He believed that the IC must be a space for discussion and elaboration and he was a remarkable facilitator of the debates. Moreover, he never hesitated to get involved in practical tasks.
He was very engaged in the social forum process without idealizing it. He never rejected the critics that had to be done. He thought that this process was the more advanced that could be possible in the present situation. And that it has to evolve.
To explain his attachment to WSF process, I would remind his intervention at the IC meeting in Rabat in 2009. Vinod recalls that in 1984, in Hiroshima, Asian movements and intellectuals propose to launch a Global Alliance of People. They raise the question of who will build this alliance. Vinod explained the result of the discussions in these terms “The movements will build the alliance of peoples. It is not the parties, the associations or the NGOs. It is the social and citizen movements” This proposal will characterize the WSF process.
Listening, availability and humanity that characterized Vinod took more sense when you know its commitments. We knew the role he had, especially in Jubilee South, in the mobilization of Bhopal, in organizing the WSF in Mumbai, in Alter-inter network and in the foundation of the remarkable People’s Science Movement in India.
Vinod has given us so much with its simplicity, attention and depth. We keep him in our hearts.
We want to express here all our love to Anita, and all our affection to his family and all his friends.
gus massiah